


Words for Beginnings

by mattygroves



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fun in Antarctica!, Fun with the Goa'uld!, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 07:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7425229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattygroves/pseuds/mattygroves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every scientific discovery, great or small, has a starting point, a principle from which it springs. When the universe banged into existence, certain principles came with it. Rodney McKay had more than a passing knowledge of these principles, and so was rarely surprised. But the fact that he rarely experienced surprise didn’t mean he didn’t desire it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words for Beginnings

EVENT HORIZON

Every scientific discovery, great or small, has a starting point, a principle from which it springs. When the universe banged into existence, certain principles came with it. Rodney McKay had more than a passing knowledge of these principles, and so was rarely surprised. But the fact that he rarely experienced surprise didn’t mean he didn’t desire it.

So when he first saw John Sheppard in the fully powered Ancient chair, showing him the solar system in shimmering blue over their heads, his first reaction was a near orgasmic string of expletives in the privacy of his own mind. His second reaction was, “Oh no, he’s hot.” If Rodney lost sleep over either of these surprises, he kept his own counsel.

Except, of course, keeping his own counsel in Rodney’s private universe didn’t preclude talking Radek Zelenka’s ear off as they began the arduous task of prepping their experiments, equipment, and delicate Ancient artifacts for the trip to Colorado Springs and onward to the Pegasus galaxy. Zelenka is a common element in Rodneyverse, even if Rodney sometimes forgets his name, and therefore barely registers in his ever-expanding search for something, anything, uncommon. This is Rodney’s version of friendship.

“It figures the Air Force would have something so amazing right under its nose and not even realize it,” Rodney said, dismantling a delicate instrument and fitting each piece into its exactly measured crevice in the foam case with long, adept fingers. He wasn’t about to trust the unwashed interns with his equipment when his very survival in another galaxy might depend upon it.

“You’re speaking about the ATA gene that Major Sheppard possesses?” Zelenka responded.

“Of course I’m talking about the gene, what else would I be talking about?”

The Czech scientist snorted as he focused on his own packing across the lab.

“I’m interested in him as an asset to this mission,” Rodney explained. Zelenka could be so dumb sometimes.

“You should ask him what he thinks about DADT.”

“Yeah,” Rodney retorted when he had finished spluttering, “Because there’s nothing I love more than getting my ass kicked by hot Air Force pilots.”

“Hey, I don’t judge—as long as it’s consensual. And you just admitted you think he’s hot.”

“Because I’m not blind. What are you, twelve? I would hit you with this centrifuge, but we’d be in Pegasus before the military got around to replacing it.”

“He’s still on base, you know. I saw him in the mess, which you would know if you ever bothered to eat anything other than Power Bars.”

Rodney glared at him, but after their conversation—though not because of it—he did begin to find time to take meals more regularly.

GRAVITATIONAL SINGULARITY

Major John Sheppard kept his own counsel out of habit, necessity, and the fact that he had no one to confide even if he wanted to. But he didn’t let it bother him. It was safer this way.

But now it seemed that some of the scientists were determined to make a friend of him—Beckett out of sheer gratitude at no longer being the only guinea pig in Dr. McKay’s experiments with Ancient tech, and Zelenka for reasons of his own. Zelenka was a man who really knew how to keep his own counsel, which Sheppard appreciated.

It also seemed that Dr. Rodney McKay was part of this package deal of friendship given on a lonely, cold Antarctic base. Secret Antarctic base, which was just...so cool. Zelenka would come in first, with or without Carson Beckett, and sit at John’s lonely table in the corner. Dr. McKay would come in, disgruntled and distracted, but he would allow himself to be waved over by Zelenka, usually muttering cryptic things, like “I’m never drinking with you and Beckett again,” or “Now I know what it’s like to be friends with thirteen year old girls.”

John would just look at him, amused, with a face trained in false innocence. It seemed to really annoy McKay, so John kept doing it.

DAWN

“Remind me again why we had to leave at this ungodly hour?” Rodney bawled into his headset, clutching his travel mug full of the blessedly hot and caffeinated elixir of life, as Sheppard piloted the helicopter over the eerily periwinkle ice of pre-dawn Antarctica. The sky was nearly the exact same color, except for the faint green flickers of the aurora australis. The stars were still clearly visible, reminding Rodney of the first time he saw John, and how John thought the solar system into existence over their heads in nearly this exact shade of blue.

“Because every good adventure starts before the sun comes up!” John yelled back.

“This isn’t an adventure, it’s routine maintenance. Zelenka could do it in his sleep. I’m pretty sure he’s just faking that cold to get out of it.”

John just grinned as the sun began to break free over the horizon in alarming shades of yellow and neon coral.

GETTING THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD

“Almost there,” Rodney muttered, “Could you hold that light a little to the left? Okay, got it.”

“Great, let’s get out of this creepy bunker. I’m getting claustrophobic.”

They tried to stand up at the same time in a space that was too small for both of them. After a moment’s detangling, they were stuck chest to chest.

“What are the odds that Radek had time to come up here and sabotage this beacon just to spite me?” Rodney asked.

“Um,” John said, and sort of exhaled.

Exhaled, right? Rodney didn’t just imagine that?

“Er,” Rodney said, clearing his throat.

“If I just—”

“Right, and I’ll scoot here—”

And with minimal embarrassment they were climbing the narrow ladder back into the blessedly freezing Antarctic temperatures.

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING

“Well this is creepy,” John said when they reentered the base.

“What the hell? Where is everybody?” he was about to go running through the halls calling for Radek, Elizabeth, Carson, but John was pulling his gun and pushing Rodney behind him, motioning for him to shut up. Rodney did his best not to think about how hot that was.

They made their way as quietly as possible down the hall. Elizabeth’s office was just on the right and the door was ajar. John eased it the rest of the way open. At first it looked empty, but no, Elizabeth was on the floor half-hidden by her desk, like she’d fallen there.

“Oh god,” Rodney whispered, “Is she—”

“No, there’s a pulse.”

“Oh thank god.”

“Got any way to figure out what did this to her? Because I’m willing to bet it’s affected the rest of the base and we need to know if it’ll take us out the same way.”

“Yes, let me get my handy tricorder,” Rodney said sarcastically.

“Rodney,” Sheppard said in a warning voice.

“I’m sorry I get sarcastic when I’m stressed out and maybe about to die. Which you should probably know about me if we’re going to be working together in another galaxy. There’ll probably be lots of things to stress out about—”

“Rodney,” he said in a different tone, “Breathe.”

“Okay,” he took a deep breath and realized Sheppard had never called him anything besides ‘McKay’ until today. “I’ve got some scanners in my lab. No. They’ll be in the cargo bay by now.”

“Okay,” Sheppard headed for the door.

“Wait!” said Rodney, “If there’s something out there—”

“We’ll handle it.”

“I was just going to say we should take the back way.”

“Oh, okay, yeah.”

A few moments later they were crawling through a ventilation shaft that lead to a series of ladders and more tubes.

“So whoever designed this base was really going for a Star Trek vibe, huh?”

Rodney snorted in response, trying to pretend he wasn’t already winded.

The scanners were predictably under a huge pile of other equipment, and it took them awhile to shift things around. But once Rodney had the appropriate equipment in his hands he was able to determine from lingering traces that a toxin in the air had knocked out the entire base, but the toxin had dissipated to the point that John and Rodney weren’t in any danger.

“Great,” said John, “Now we just need to figure out why.”

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view), the answer was right behind him with a gun in her hand.

“Er, Dr. Byrne, isn’t it?” John said to the young red haired physicist. “Rodney, why are her eyes glowing? Her eyes should not be glowing, right?”

“Oh, fuck, not another one,” Rodney said. “Look, just try an knock her out, okay. She’s been taken over by a gross worm thing.”

Dr. Byrne turned her gun on Rodney.

“Did I say gross? I meant, er, nice. Nice worm thing?”

“I will crush you, ridiculous human,” Dr. Byrne’s voice came out deeper than John remembered.

“I have an idea!” Rodney said, ducking behind a crate as Byrne opened fire.

“Great, I’ll cover you,” John called as he rolled behind a different crate and returned fire.

Rodney knew it had to be here. He’d packed it himself. If he could just remember—ah! Bingo.

“Here!” he slid something across the concrete to John, “This should work for you.”

“It’s a weapon?”

“I’m ninety-nine percent sure.”

“Jesus, Rodney,” John said, and pointed what he hoped was the business end of the now lit up ancient device at Dr. Byrne.

Later, with an ice pack to her head, Elizabeth heard their report of the events.

“That was quick thinking, Dr. McKay, with the stunner. Dr. Byrne is currently sedated and will be taken to the Tok’ra as soon as possible to get that thing out of her.”

“Who—” began John.

“A lesser Goa’uld hoping to catch a ride to Pegasus,” Elizabeth waved her hand dismissively. “Rodney can fill you in,” she said to answer his still questioning look. “Welcome to the team, Major.”

“Um, thanks.”

And her nod told them the meeting was over.

THE BIG BANG

“So, the Goa’uld, huh?” John said.

“Yeah, they’re these—”

But he didn’t get to finish his explanation because John was pulling him around a corner and down a dim corridor and pinning him against the cinder block wall—which wasn’t very comfortable, but with John pressed against him Rodney was pretty sure he could live with it.

“I don’t actually care,” John said.

“I gathered from the grabbing and the pinning,” Rodney said.

“Is it—”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Good.” He pressed his mouth to Rodney’s, but only for a moment, “We should probably take this somewhere more private. The whole base is basically hung-over from that toxin so now would be a good time—”

“Yes! Definitely, let’s, um,” but he lost his train of thought staring at John’s mouth. He licked his own lips. Had he been speaking just then or had he only imagined it?

“So, your place? Five minutes?”

Rodney nodded and suddenly missed the weight of John, and missed John himself as soon as he turned the corner. But he could be patient. Well, for five minutes at least. God, Zelenka was going to have a field day. But as he made his way down the hall to his quarters—his quarters where John would be in five minutes, no four minutes, now—he found he didn’t mind all that much.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I can't get enough of this fandom right now :)
> 
> This is actually the first John/Rodney story I started, but it took awhile to come together.
> 
> Kudos and comments always appreciated! I love recommendations for other fics, too!!


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